Widow of ‘Whitey’ Bulger victim suggests foul play in payment of $2.1 million FBI reward

The FBI announced Friday that it had doled out $2.1 million to unnamed individuals for the tip that led to the June arrest of legendary gangster James “Whitey” Bulger and his girlfriend in California. But the family of one of Bulger’s alleged victims is wondering aloud where that money is.

In a Friday press release, the FBI announced that it had paid $2.1 million — $2 million for Bulger’s arrest and $100,000 for that of his girlfriend Catherine Greig —- to “more than one individual.”

After sixteen years on the run, Bulger was arrested after the FBI tweeted and televised his photo. The Washington Post reported that just one individual was responsible for the tip. Boston NPR affiliate WBUR reported that the tip came from a woman living in Iceland.

The widow of one of Bulger’s alleged victims isn’t so sure of the FBI’s story. “There’s something screwy here,” Mary Callahan told the Boston Herald. “The new FBI, they’re supposed to be trustworthy because they’ve been burned, and now they’ve straightened out. Have they? I don’t know. Maybe they divvied up the $2 millon, and there is nobody in Iceland.”

The Boston-based Bulger inspired the film “The Departed” and had a relationship with the FBI as an informant. Believed to be connected to 19 murders, Bulger went underground when a former FBI agent informed him in 1995 that he would be indicted on racketeering charges. (RELATED: How social media brought down a mobster)

The FBI is not identifying the reward recipient or recipients. “To protect the anonymity and privacy of those responsible for providing information which directly led to the arrests … the FBI will not comment further regarding this matter,” the FBI’s press release said.